carfreak85

They were an optional feature, you can buy a kit to install it in any Forester, I put one in my wife's car. IF your car has one, it will be behind a little access panel on the underside of the dashboard in the front passenger's footwell. Google is your friend, try searching for images.

I'm looking for these parts: EA81 coupe rear fender badges ANY EA81 Turbo parts Analog dashboard and uncut dash harness Fuel pump relay ECU EA81T thermostat housing from a Water-cooled turbocharger Rubber power steering spill bib Gold-trimmed exterior trim pieces Uncracked EA81T heads EA81T throttle cables and junction box EA81T power steering hardline Factory-installed sunroof - I need the entire stamped-steel sunroof panel 1975 parts 4WD bumpers F/R uncracked dashboard clean carpets full set of mud flaps front end sheet metal window seals, if in good condition More if I can think of it...

Be sure to post pictures for those who can't attend!

I am 99.8% sure my car has a stamped steel heat shield that bolts to those tabs. Picture this afternoon, or bust!

Before starting the brand new engine in my WRX for the first time I tried priming the engine. It turned over long enough without the oil pressure gauge registering any pressure that it spooked me into thinking I was going to damage the bearings. I pulled the spark plugs and A) the engine was able to turn over much more quickly (not having to compress anything sure helps) and the oil pressure started building within five seconds and was fully pressurized within 20 seconds. The point of my story is: If you try priming it with the spark plugs installed and it doesn't work, simply pulling the plugs may be enough to get the oil moving. YMMV...

Poop, I'll be in Bellingham...

I will get a picture of the OEM EA81T brake line heat shields this afternoon.

Do you have a list of parts/vehicles? Photos?

I think the 105 psi of compression per cylinder would be a bigger worry than anything else. I don't have my FSM in front of me, but I would expect 150-170 psi from a healthy engine. 130-150 for a tired engine and anything below that would need a rebuild.

Resource Conserving does not mean recycled. It means that it is formulated with fewer of the anti-wear goodies that are unfriendly to catalytic converters.

I just bought one of the DSS's carbon 1-piece shafts and will report back in this thread once I have it installed.

Not enough information on the linked site, but if you're running this in an EJ-Turbo-powered Subaru, please check to see if this is "Resource Conserving" oil. Mobil 1, in certain weights and product lines, has been known to be a killer of turbocharged EJ engines. Spoken from experience....

I've used 4x6 with great success in my EA81s, but had to redrill the speaker chassis. You will need to get creative, but it can be done. Anything smaller than a 4x6" speaker is going to sound like crap (Coming from a guy with one 4x6" car and another car with 3.5" rounds).

Very cool! I have always wanted to get down to a JCCS event, but haven't made it a priority yet. I also don't think any of my cars are nice enough to be invited to any of their drives or shows.

Caboob, let us know if you find that video. Just about every FHI joint I've ever touched feels notchy by now...

It would make sense that that Series-two EA81 blocks would be the same as the EA81Ts, it's easier to pay off the tooling changes if every engine after the changeover uses the same part. Thanks for the correction. That said, the hydro-lifter EA81s are much less common than the earlier engines in the U.S., since they were released in mid 1983 and were only available in the EA81 hatchback and BRAT from 1985-89... And there are probably zero NOS EA81 shortblocks left in the world, so they would all need to be machined anyway.

First off, I want to address what Nowhereman said in the post above. The EA81T engine was available during the 1983-4 model years. From 1985-90 the EA82T was the turbo engine option. They are NOT the same and they are NOT interchangeable. Some parts can be interchanged, injectors, turbos, exhaust manifolds and downpipes, etc. but the engines themselves are not the same. Kristina, you need to get an automotive stethoscope, one that can have the needle removed so it looks like a megaphone. Get your other half to sit in the driver's seat and get him to make the noise. With the stethoscope in megaphone mode, listen all over the car to try to pinpoint the noise. If you can't find it, or he can't reproduce it, reattach the needle and stick it down right on top of the engine block, above the crankshaft centerline. If you hear the noise in this location, your engine is finished. Knocking in this area would be crankshaft main, or connecting rod bearings. Damage to these bearings is bad news. To make the repair correctly, the engine will need a full teardown and cleaning. Both surfaces of each block half will need to be machined, reassembled and line bored, along with crankshaft machining, before new bearings can be installed. Assuming the parts are still in good enough condition to be reused. The engine block is specific to the EA81T and you will lose at LEAST your knock sensor mounting boss if you use a carb'd block. The crankshaft is probably interchangeable. Rod knock is not a cheap fix. A lot of cleaning and precise machining is required, and if done incorrectly of if steps are skipped for the sake of cost savings, you will quickly be back at square one. I hope it isn't rod knock, but the stethoscope should help you isolate the noise.

Best advice would be to find the cleanest, best maintained, adult owned car you can. As mentioned, you will want a very detailed inspection, preferably by a shop who is intimately familiar with these cars. If you see ANY signs of modification, run away. These cars can hold up well with the proper care, but careless owners who make modifications without researching or doing things in the correct order can quickly do damage that may not show up for a while, even with an inspection (Read: crank bearings and ring lands). Intakes without a complementary tune are the absolute worst, and will tell you immediately if the owner knows what they're doing. The myth of the transmissions being made of glass is just that. A myth. We have raced my '02 WRX ("Weakest" trans in the series) since day one and it is still going strong with over 120k on it. Brakes are solid, as are suspensions (if the front control arm recall been performed) and the chassis don't rust any faster than a normal car. The paint is very thin and soft, just something to be aware of. 2008 is the year to avoid, if any. First year of the new body style and pretty limp wristed vs. the 2009+. 2002s will probably be the collector car in the future, if you're interested in that aspect. Notice I haven't mentioned the STI once. I would prefer to recommend that model, but to buy one that won't cause trouble, it would be out of your price range. Maybe not, but that would be the one to buy, '05-07. I'll add more as I think of it...

Just be prepared to spend extra money on gaskets, hoses and the like. Turbos store a lot of excess heat in the engine compartment, so don't be surprised if it has made plastic/rubber parts brittle and prone to cracking.

Are they getting harder to find? Yes, so I guess that makes them rare. Is a 2WD carbureted station wagon the most desirable model of this vintage? No, but as stated above, if there is a sentimental connection people will be willing to pay more for it.

It is not physically possible on this engine to achieve a 10:1 compression ratio just by shaving the heads. Period. Full stop. Also, the Nissan injectors are the same part, same flow. Most manufacturers run about 43 psi of fuel pressure on non-DI engines. FI Subarus of this vintage use somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 psi. Crank that up to 43 psi and you magically get flow rates that match the Nissan part.

Cronan, you're in uncharted territory here. Over the years there have been a handful of members who have toyed with high -compression turbocharged engines, but most (if not all) of those were of the EA82T flavor. As others have mentioned, I am 100% confident that you are closer to 8.0:1 compression, which isn't something that would throw this engine for a loop, the factory electronics should still be able to control the combustion event. My guess is that you have inadequate fueling (clogged filter, injector with bad flow, etc.) or the base ignition timing was not properly set. Also, be sure there aren't any cracks/leaks in the induction system that would allow unmetered air into the engine. This could cause a lean condition that would promote detonation.

A couple of things to add to this thread: A 2002 WRX does NOT need a tune to run a full turbo-back exhaust (TBE). They run a 16-bit ECU that is primitive enough that it's factory software can compensate for the change in airflow. The later 32-bit cars ('06+, IIRC) MUST have the ECU retuned when any aftermarket downpipe is installed. As far as the backpressure comment from CCR: FALSE. Normally aspirated engines do benefit from backpressure, but a turbocharger is it's most efficient when you have a large pressure differential across the turbine wheel. (High pressure before the turbo, low pressure in the exhaust). It makes sense as a business to only warranty engines installed with 100% stock components, and I understand why they do this (See comment about 16 vs. 32-bit ECUs above), but the reasoning is just plain wrong.

Salesmen aren't engineers...

I've been doing a lot of suspension work on my WRX lately and have gone over a few sets of strut mounts. From what I've seen, 90% of the mount is bulletproof. What ends up going bad is the bearing in the front mounts. These need to be able to spin freely, to allow the strut shaft to rotate, allowing the front wheels to turn. If you stick your finger in the front upper bearing and it has any resistance, or feels "grumbly," it needs to be replaced. At 120k miles on my WRX, the fronts needed to be replaced, along with the ball joints.